>> JOE HANSON: Coming up on High School Quiz Show, it's the quarterfinals with Somerville... (cheers and applause) ...taking on Lexington.

(cheers and applause) That's next on High School Quiz Show.

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(cheers and applause) >> HANSON: Hi, everybody, and welcome to High School Quiz Show.

I'm your host, Joe Hanson.

Last week, Acton-Boxborough defeated Weston to earn a spot in the semifinals.

In today's last quarterfinal match, we welcome back Lexington High School and Somerville High School.

On the Lexington team, we have: Atreya, Owen, Elias, and Aditya.

With alternates Andrew and Alan and coaches Andrew Baker and Josh Olivier-Mason.

(cheers and applause) Competing for Somerville, we have: Lillian, Ruthanna, Ella, and Jack.

With alternates Calla and Nate and coach Ted Blake.

(cheers and applause) The competition has four rounds: toss-up, head-to-head, category, and a lightning round.

We start with the toss-up round.

All answers are worth ten points, there are no point deductions for incorrect answers, and players may confer before buzzing in.

So teams, if you're ready, here we go.

"I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else."

What first lady wrote this soon after her husband took office in 1789?

Ella.

>> Abigail Adams.

>> HANSON: No.

Lexington, opportunity?

Elias?

>> Washington.

>> HANSON: Martha Washington is correct.

In 2023, media personality Bob Barker passed away at age 99.

He's best known as the former host of what show, the longest-running game show in North American television history?

Aditya.

>> Wheel of Fortune.

>> HANSON: No.

Somerville, opportunity?

(buzzer) The Price is Right.

In 1812, the French emperor, Napoleon, led 450,000 men, the largest army that Europe had ever seen, on a disastrous invasion of what country?

Owen.

>> Russia.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

What 1982 film is based on Philip K. Dick's science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Elias.

>> Blade Runner.

>> HANSON: Correct.

Take a look at your screens.

Named Italy's first female prime minister in 2022, what politician, seen here, is the first far-right nationalist to govern Italy since Benito Mussolini?

Ella.

>> Meloni.

>> HANSON: Giorgia Meloni is correct.

Known especially for his collaborations with Dionne Warwick, including "Say a Little Prayer" and "Walk on By," what highly influential American songwriter passed away in 2023 at age 94?

Aditya.

>> Burt Bacharach.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

Abraham Lincoln argued against compromising on slavery in a famous 1858 debate with Stephen Douglas.

Drawing from a line in the Bible, Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot" what?

Owen.

>> Stand.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

Michelle Zauner, founder of the band Japanese Breakfast, is the author of what bestselling memoir that's an expansion of her essay "Real Life: Love, Loss, and Kimchi"?

Owen.

>> H Mart.

>> HANSON: We need the full name.

(buzzer) Somerville, opportunity?

Lillian.

>> Crying in H Mart.

>> HANSON: Crying in H Mart is correct.

Despite its emergence as the world's second-largest economy, what country's gross domestic product per capita is still less than 40% of Japan's and less than 20% of the United States'?

Owen.

>> China.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

Take a look at your screens.

We have a video question from a special guest.

>> Hello, I'm Bob Comiskey.

I direct High School Quiz Show and I'm a big music fan.

Here's my question: what band signed with E.M.I.

Records after an executive at Decca Records said, "Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we don't like your boys' sound."

>> HANSON: Ruthanna.

>> The Beatles.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

And this is Bob's 15th year at the helm of High School Quiz Show, and I think he deserves a round of applause.

(chuckles) (cheers and applause) And Bob, you can cut to applause on that.

(cheers and applause) Moving on.

With approximately 224 million people, what is Africa's most populous country?

Lillian.

>> Nigeria.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

In 2023, what author of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead won his fifth Tony Award for Best Play, for Leopoldstadt?

A, Sam Shepard, B, David Mamet, or C, Tom Stoppard?

Ella.

>> C. >> HANSON: C, Tom Stoppard, is correct.

Because it supports the skull, what top cervical vertebra of the neck is named after the Greek god who supported the heavens?

Ruthanna.

>> Atlas.

>> HANSON: That is correct, the atlas bone.

What American actress played the role of Marion Ravenwood for a third time in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

(buzzer) Karen Allen is the actress.

What four-letter word refers to the official currency of South Africa?

Atreya.

>> Rand.

>> HANSON: The rand is correct.

What Spanish word for "cauldron" refers to a bowl-shaped volcanic depression?

Lillian.

>> Caldera.

>> HANSON: Correct.

In 2019, what country that was once part of Pakistan became the first country to grant all of its rivers the same legal status as humans?

Aditya.

>> Bangladesh.

>> HANSON: Correct.

"You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea."

These famous words were said by what Black civil rights leader who was killed in Mississippi in 1963?

Was it: A, Medgar Evers, B, Martin Luther King, Jr., or C, Malcolm X?

Elias.

>> C. >> HANSON: No.

Somerville?

Ruthanna.

>> A.

>> HANSON: Medgar Evers is correct.

At just 295 square miles, what country with a capital city of Manama is the smallest country in the Middle East by land area?

Elias.

>> Bahrain.

>> HANSON: Correct.

Three days after replacing Neville Chamberlain as prime minister of the U.K., who famously said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

Ella.

>> Winston Churchill.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

The main component of natural gas, what potent greenhouse gas traps about 25 times as much heat as carbon dioxide?

Lillian.

>> Methane.

>> HANSON: Correct.

After winning a Grammy in 2023 for narrating the audiobook of her memoir Finding Me, what star of How to Get Away with Murder achieved EGOT status by having won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award?

Atreya.

>> Viola Davis.

>> HANSON: Yes, Viola Davis.

The Code Breaker is a nonfiction book by Walter Isaacson about what U.C.

Berkeley biochemist who helped develop the genetic editing tool CRISPR?

Owen.

>> Sanger.

>> HANSON: No-- Somerville, you do have an opportunity.

>> (whispering): I don't know.

(buzzer) >> HANSON: Jennifer Doudna is the scientist.

In 2023, what did U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy call out as a driving force behind the surge in kids' mental health challenges?

A, school shootings, B, drug use, or C, social media?

Atreya.

>> C. >> HANSON: Social media is correct.

Brad Pitt once told Entertainment Weekly that he almost quit Interview with the Vampire because he hated the extensive makeup process so much.

The 1994 film is based on the novel of the same name by what author?

Ella.

>> Anne Rice.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

On June 16, 1963, who became the world's first female space traveler as she launched into orbit onboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 6?

Aditya.

>> Valentina Shevchenko.

>> HANSON: No.

Somerville?

Ella?

>> Tereshkova.

>> HANSON: That is correct, Valentina Tereshkova.

What deadly infectious disease was once known as consumption?

Ella.

>> Tuberculosis.

>> HANSON: Tuberculosis is correct.

"If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things."

What Greek philosopher wrote this in his best-known work, The Republic?

Lillian.

>> Plato.

>> HANSON: Plato is correct.

What Visigoth king led the Sack of Rome in the year 410 A.D., an event that marked the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

Aditya.

>> Attila the Hun.

>> HANSON: No.

Somerville?

Ella?

>> Theodoric.

>> HANSON: No, we're looking for Alaric.

Named after the Swiss psychologist who developed it in 1921, what inkblot test was a commonly used psychological assessment throughout much of the 20th century?

Aditya.

>> Rorschach.

>> HANSON: The Rorschach test is correct.

(bell ringing) And that is the end of the toss-up round.

And the score is Lexington: 120 points.

And Somerville has 140 points.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(cheers and applause) The head-to-head round is next, but first, we're gonna take a few minutes to get to know our players, and we do that with a question.

Lexington, we'll start with you.

Atreya, what is one thing that we should know about you, and why?

>> I guess one fun fact about me is that I love to collect Lego Architecture sets.

I think the count's at 19 right now, and hopefully, it goes up in the future.

>> HANSON: You got a whole city, I love that.

Owen, how about you?

>> I can solve a three-by-three Rubik's Cube in about a minute.

>> HANSON: That is impressive.

I can't solve one in... my whole life.

(laughter) Elias.

>> I have seen every movie in the James Bond series.

>> HANSON: That's a lot of movies, and most of them are good, I think, too.

(laughter) Aditya?

>> So if I were to have a pet, I'd get a pet pig, 600-pound commercial hog, and my friend suggested that I name it Baconator, and I think that's a really good idea.

>> HANSON: Great idea, great name.

Interesting idea for a home, though.

(laughter) Lillian.

>> I have a 1,135-day streak on Duolingo.

>> HANSON: Wow.

What language?

>> Spanish, Chinese, Hawaiian, and now Arabic.

>> HANSON: That is incredible.

Ruthanna.

>> I've participated in National History Day for years.

I'm a four-time Greater Boston and Massachusetts champion, and last year, I was a national finalist with my project about the myth of the American frontier and the treaties of Fort Laramie.

So check out NHD if you're history nerds like me.

>> HANSON: That's awesome.

I think we all are.

(chuckles) Ella.

>> I've stage managed a few musicals at school, including Kinky Boots last fall.

>> HANSON: So you want to visit this stage and set when we're done here?

Get to know a little bit more?

Jack?

>> I'm the captain of our first robotics team.

And our robots in the last two years were Bonk and Yoink.

>> HANSON: Great names.

I don't know what they do, but I like that.

All right, teams, it's time to go head-to-head.

(cheers and applause) In this round, correct answers add ten points to the team total and incorrect answers result in a ten-point deduction.

The clock is set at 90 seconds.

Shake hands.

Okay.

Here we go.

What constitutional amendment abolished slavery in the United... >> 13th.

>> HANSON: Yes.

Each year, about 1,500 bicycles are fished out of the canals of what Dutch national... >> Amsterdam.

>> HANSON: Yes.

With four titles, which country has the most World Cup wins in women's soccer?

>> U.S. >> HANSON: Yes.

Michael J.

Fox and Christopher Lloyd star in what sci-fi... >> Back to the Future.

>> HANSON: Yes.

What notable figure who passed away in 2023 at age 93 was the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?

>> Sandra Day O'Connor.

>> HANSON: Yes.

Atomic number 56 refers... >> Barium.

>> HANSON: Yes.

What bay on the Atlantic coast of North America has the highest tides in the world?

(buzzer) Bay of Fundy.

What is the only country to have a musical instrument-- a harp-- as a national emblem?

(buzzer) Ireland.

In 1909, who created a bronze artwork titled Head of a Woman, one of the first Cubist sculptures?

(buzzer) Picasso.

In 2018, what became the last country in the world to lift its ban on female drivers?

>> Qatar.

>> HANSON: No, Saudi Arabia.

What Australian actress won a Golden Globe for her lead role as a fictional conductor in the 2022 film Tár?

>> Cate Blanchett.

>> HANSON: Yes.

The Mount of Olives is located in what city that contains sites holy to Jews, Christians, and... >> Jerusalem.

>> HANSON: Yes.

In 1607, the first permanent English settlement... >> Jamestown.

>> HANSON: Yes.

After the Great Fire of 1666, what English architect designed more than 50 new churches in London... (bell ringing) We were looking for Christopher Wren there.

That's the end of the round.

Let's take a look at the score.

We have a tie.

Lexington has 170 points and so does Somerville.

Let's have a round of applause for both teams.

(cheers and applause) Up next, the category round with the following categories: Founders Day, Let's Get Ready to Fumble!, Raiders of the Lost Art, Over the Rainbow, Jamaican Holiday, and Mind Neuron Business.

All categories have five questions with increasing point value.

Teams will choose two five-question categories each and have the option to toss one question per category to the other team that the other team must answer.

Players are able to confer.

Lexington, who's your spokesperson?

Atreya.

Somerville, how about you?

Ruthanna.

All right, since the score is tied, the first team to choose a category was determined by a coin toss, which Somerville won.

What's your first category gonna be?

>> Our first category is gonna be Founders Day, please.

>> HANSON: Founders Day.

Questions about America's Founding Fathers.

For ten points: according to John Adams, who was chosen as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence not only because he was the best writer, but also because he had the fewest enemies in the Continental Congress?

(all whispering) >> (whispering): Jefferson.

>> (aloud): Our answer is Thomas Jefferson.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

For 15 points: in addition to establishing the U.S. Coast Guard, who also created the nation's first tax systems, monetary policy, and central bank?

>> Our answer is Alexander Hamilton.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

For 20 points: in a fiery speech delivered at the Virginia Convention in March 1775, who said, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"?

>> Patrick Henry.

>> HANSON: Correct.

For 25 points in Founders Day: what Founding Father was the nation's first chief justice, serving on the Supreme Court from 1789 to 1795?

>> John Jay.

>> HANSON: Correct.

For 30 points: George Washington's farewell address is a 32-page handwritten letter that announced his retirement and warned against the dangers of divisive party politics.

Washington wrote and published his letter in what year?

>> (whispering): '89?

Was it '89?

>> (whispering): '89, so seven-- so '97?

>> (whispering): Yeah.

>> (aloud): 1797.

>> HANSON: No, it's 1796.

Lexington, your category.

>> (whispering): Mind Neuron Business.

>> (aloud): We're gonna go with Mind Neuron Business.

>> HANSON: Mind Neuron Business.

In this category, questions are about the nervous system.

For ten points: the human brain has billions of nerve cells, or neurons.

What term beginning with the letter S refers to the place where neurons connect and communicate with each other?

>> (whispering): "Sy-napse"?

(aloud): "Sy-napse."

>> HANSON: "Sin-apse" is correct, yes.

For 15 points: what part of the neuron that looks like a short, tree-like extension is responsible for receiving nerve signals?

>> (whispering): Dendrite?

(aloud): Dendrite.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

For 20 points: what part of the neuron that looks like a long, threadlike extension is responsible for transmitting nerve signals?

>> Axon.

>> HANSON: Axon is correct.

>> HANSON: For 25 points in Mind Neuron Business: what almond-shaped structure located deep within the brain is closely linked with memory and emotion?

>> (whispering): Wait, memory and emotion.

Right, so that's... >> (whispering): Amygdala.

>> (whispering): Yeah, almond, right?

So that's the smallest... >> HANSON: We'll need an answer.

>> (whispering): So amygdala.

>> (aloud): Amygdala.

>> HANSON: Amygdala is correct.

For 30 points: studies have shown that symptoms of Parkinson's disease develop in patients with an 80% or greater loss of what neurotransmitter that is critical for normal motor control?

>> (whispering): Acetylcholine?

Do you guys... >> (whispering): I don't know.

>> (whispering): It has to be that.

>> (whispering): Do you want to toss?

>> (whispering): Yeah-- no, no, no.

Wait, is it better... >> (whispering): Toss?

>> (whispering): No, no, we should answer, 'cause we know the answer.

>> HANSON: We'll need an answer.

>> (whispering): Acetylcholine.

>> (aloud): Acetylcholine.

>> HANSON: No, the answer is dopamine.

Somerville, your next category.

>> (whispering): Okay, the colors or...?

>> (whispering): Colors is easier.

Do colors.

>> (aloud): We'll take Over the Rainbow.

>> HANSON: Over the Rainbow.

Questions in this category are about fictional places.

For ten points: in the Marvel universe, what fictional country in Africa is depicted as the most technologically advanced nation on the planet?

>> Wakanda.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

For 15 points: in Norse mythology, what heavenly place of the gods is connected to Earth with a rainbow bridge?

>> (whispering): Asgard.

>> (whispering): Asgard.

>> (aloud): Asgard.

>> HANSON: Yes, Asgard.

For 20 points: Venice High School in Los Angeles was used as the location for what fictional high school in the 1978 film Grease?

>> (whispering): Pass-- pass.

>> (whispering): Ryder?

(aloud): Ryder.

>> HANSON: No, it's Rydell High.

For 25 points in Over the Rainbow: what Lerner and Loewe musical is about American tourists who stumble upon a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years?

>> (whispering): Is it Brigadoon?

>> (whispering): Brigadoon.

>> (aloud): Brigadoon.

>> HANSON: That is correct.

For 30 points: according to legend, King Arthur will one day return from what magical island and rule Britain once again?

>> (mouths) >> (whispering): Yes.

>> (aloud): Avalon.

>> HANSON: Avalon is correct.

Lexington, final category.

(all whispering) >> (whispering): That's the best one, right?

>> (whispering): Yes.

>> (aloud): Let's Get Ready to Fumble!

>> HANSON: Let's Get Ready to Fumble!

In this category, questions are about American football.

For ten points: according to the NFL rulebook, the offense gets how many downs, or chances, to advance ten yards?

>> Four.

>> HANSON: Four is correct.

For 15 points: what five-letter German word for "lightning" refers to the defensive strategy of sending additional players to tackle the quarterback before he can throw a pass?

>> Blitz.

>> HANSON: That's correct.

For 20 points: the 2023 Super Bowl was the first to feature two Black starting quarterbacks.

Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles faced off against what quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs?

>> Patrick Mahomes.

>> HANSON: Correct.

For 25 points: the Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching positions.

It's named after Dan Rooney, the late owner of what football team?

>> Steelers.

>> HANSON: Pittsburgh Steelers is correct.

And for 30 points in Let's Get Ready to Fumble!

: winner of the third season of Dancing with the Stars, what running back who spent most of his 15-year career with the Dallas Cowboys is the NFL's all-time leading rusher?

>> Smith.

>> HANSON: Emmitt Smith is correct.

(bell ringing) And that's the end of the category round.

The score is Lexington: 310 points.

Somerville has 270 points.

We've got a close match.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(cheers and applause) Okay, we are heading into the final round of play, the lightning round.

Correct answers add 20 points to the team total.

And there is a 20-point deduction for incorrect answers.

The clock is set, here we go.

A mainstay of American television, in 2023, what longtime host of Wheel of Fortune announced his plans to retire?

Elias.

>> Pat Sajak.

>> HANSON: Yes.

What English scientist defined the three laws of motion and universal... Owen.

>> Newton.

>> HANSON: Yes.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife murder what aged Scottish... Ella.

>> Duncan.

>> HANSON: Yes.

In 1906, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake and subsequent fires destroyed... Ruthanna.

>> San Francisco.

>> HANSON: Yes.

What is the next U.S. federal holiday after New Year's Day?

Ruthanna.

>> Dr. King Day.

>> HANSON: Martin Luther King Day, yes.

Widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, who founded Standard Oil... Owen.

>> John D. Rockefeller.

>> HANSON: Yes.

In a running gag during the first five seasons of the TV series South Park, what character dies in almost every episode?

Lillian.

>> Lenny.

>> HANSON: No, it's Kenny.

The South Pole is situated how many degrees south of the Equator?

Owen.

>> 90.

>> HANSON: Yes.

In Homer's Odyssey, what plant makes the sailors forget their... Ella.

>> The lotus.

>> HANSON: Yes.

A newspaper reporter completely made up the story of Mrs. O'Leary's cow starting the great fire that ravaged... Lillian.

>> Chicago.

>> HANSON: Yes.

What metric prefix denotes one billion?

Owen.

>> Mega.

>> HANSON: No, giga.

Though he rarely visited because of his fear of heights, what mountaintop retreat in the Bavarian Alps was specially built for Hitler's 50th... Ella.

(buzzer) Eagle's Nest.

What New Hampshire native is the founder of the Christian Science Church?

Owen.

(bell ringing) >> Hubbard.

>> HANSON: No, it's Mary Baker Eddy.

And the winning team this week is Lexington with 350 points.

Somerville finishes with 330 points.

Congratulations to both teams for a great game.

Lexington moves on to the semifinals to play Acton-Boxborough.

Join us next week for the semifinal match between Buckingham Browne and Nichols and Mansfield High School, right here on High School Quiz Show.

(cheers and applause) ♪ ♪ Major funding for High School Quiz Show is provided by Safety Insurance.

>> Boston traffic is the worst.

Safety Insurance offers auto insurance policies designed to help for when the worst happens.

You can ask an independent agent about Safety Insurance.

Safety Insurance: we'll help you manage life's storms.

>> HANSON: Additional funding is provided by the Museum of Science.

♪ ♪ (crowd cheers and applauds) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪